Low-hanging Fruit

Targets or goals which are easily achievable and which do not require a lot of effort

WWDC is around the corner and while Apple uses this time to deliver big features and updates, they often change some smaller details too — changes that improve the user experience considerably.They remove some small annoyances or give users long requested small features.

Here’s my current grocery list of low-hanging fruits on iOS:

Within reach

  • Save Safari downloads to iCloud Drive.
  • iBooks iCloud Drive sync (useful for PDFs)
  • Hide or delete default apps if a replacement is available.
  • iCloud Drive Document Picker as an app on iOS.
  • Editable Control Center buttons.
  • Set a default Document Picker destination (e.g. Transmit instead of iCloud).
  • Hide default Action Extensions (I never print).
  • Health on the iPad.
  • The MarkUp OS X extension on iOS.
  • Sync notifications across the entire platform similar to iPhone and Apple Watch sync.
  • File Picker in Mail similar to the _Photo Picker s_o attach files to new mails (shows a Document Picker).
  • Sharing sheet in Mail.
  • Cross platform App Store bundles containing both iOS and OS X versions of an app.
  • Landscape home and lock screen on all devices and sizes.
  • Set FaceTime Audio as a default method of calling.
  • Set a different automatic Do Not Disturb time in the weekend.

Slightly less low-hanging fruit

  • Show your Macs home folder as a Document Picker location on your iOS device using the already existing Back to my Mac technology.
  • Replace default mail, browser and calendar apps with custom ones if they offer specific and required functionality.
  • Siri via text commands instead of voice commands
  • Buy an OS X app on your iPad or an iPad app on your iPhone which then downloads on the other device.
  • Higher free iCloud tier balanced against the size of your devices. (5GB-16GB, 20GB-64GB, 40GB-128GB)
  • Handoff for AirPlay to the AppleTV
  • Ad Hoc syncing across devices within reach without Internet access (think: syncing iCloud documents between iPhone and iPad on a plane)

Out of reach

  • Force apps to be retina, iPhone 6 plus compatible and universal across iOS devices.
  • Selective iCloud backup restore.
  • iCloud Backup for OS X.
  • Cache iCloud Backups locally via OS X Caching Server. (Both making one and restoring).